


Stuck in a limbo, half hypnotized

by VenezuelanWriter



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Cooking, Fluff, Hair Braiding, Laundry, M/M, New Dynamics, Prank Wars, Roommates, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, they get along so wonderfully, they realize their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-10 09:39:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7839790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenezuelanWriter/pseuds/VenezuelanWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Living with Barry is… intriguing and fantastic.</p><p>Day 4 of Flashvibe Summer Week: Neighbors/Roommates AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stuck in a limbo, half hypnotized

**Author's Note:**

> !!! [Check out](http://marian-elisa.tumblr.com/post/149366882719) my contribution for day 2: social media AU.
> 
> (Toothbrush by DNCE is so Barry and Cisco and I suck at titling).
> 
> Beta'd by the awesome RedBowBuddha.

“Dude,” Barry says and Cisco turns around expectantly. “What do you think if you and me, we move in together?”

“What?” He’s caught off guard. People usually  _date_  before moving in together.

Barry shrugs casually. Maybe too casually. “You know, we find a nice apartment, you share rent with someone and I take my first steps of independence. And we get along really well so why not?”

Cisco’s eyebrows rise. “I’d have to think about it and we’d have to check places out, but… sounds nice.”

“Great! I’ve done some research on apartments we could afford. And with our furniture and the tech I know you got at your place they’d all be awesome.”

“Send me the links, man. I’ll check them out tonight.”

 

 

Living with Barry is… intriguing and fantastic. Being able to see how he uses his speed for daily and mundane activities is interesting.

They’d have breakfast together, unless Barry sleeps in, which would lead him to shower in less than twenty seconds, have breakfast in about two minutes –which Cisco would have started to make by the time Barry realizes he’s late- and rush out of their apartment wearing the first thing that he gets his hands on. Then Cisco would have breakfast on his own listening to some morning radio show that doesn’t talk too much about politics and plays good music.

The apartment is really nice and it only costs them $700 each per month. They have separate bedrooms and a guest bedroom, two bathrooms, a comfortable kitchen and a living room big enough to hang out with their squad once in awhile like they usually do.

They are really happy with their decision and have frequent movie nights; Barry is responsible for stocking the fridge and pantry with beer and snacks; Cisco makes sure they have actual groceries. Barry cleans once a week and  assures Cisco he doesn’t have to feel bad because it doesn’t take him longer than five minutes to leave the apartment gleaming.

Barry washes the dishes too; he swears he doesn’t mind as long as he doesn’t have to cook. Cisco is content with that because he hates cleaning and loves cooking and soon Barry falls in love with his culinary skill.

However, sometimes Barry feels guilty that his chores don’t hold the same weight as Cisco’s (because of the energy he invests in them). So, some nights when they go back home together to have something light for dinner, he’ll cook so Cisco can rest for once. He doesn't like cooking but at least he doesn’t burn the food and Cisco is happy every time he gets a taste of Barry’s dishes.

Although they have their own bedrooms, there's no need to close their doors. They don't have anything to hide, so it's natural to walk into one another's room like it was their own to borrow something or look for something they'd forgotten the night before while hanging out..(the wording here is a little off.

Doing laundry is fun. They take turns or usually whoever who gets home earlier that day is responsible for it. Barry makes fun of Cisco’s underwear with puns or fun sci-fi patterns on them and Cisco always complains about all of the layers Barry needs for one single outfit. They also have a constant discussion about who owns a specific gray sleeping shirt they end up sharing and Cisco always teases Barry about the fact he can’t run too much in his regular clothes because they’d stink permanently if he does.

Barry also lends Cisco his STAR Labs sweater because Cisco pouts every time he remembers he lost his own a couple of years ago and they ran out of them at the labs.

They share all the bills and save a lot of energy with Cisco’s tech. There's an HD quality 50” TV that runs on sunlight in the living room and Cisco built Barry his own smaller one for Christmas.

Cisco has the coolest kitchen gear and he’s designed Barry everything he ever dreamed of when it comes to speed (yeah, even reusable and transferable soles that don't burn from friction when he runs too fast).

Prank wars happen occasionally. They implicitly take turns starting them and they live in an endless rematch. There's never enough upgraded Nerf guns wars or hidden walkie talkies that once in a while emit creepy random sounds or the meowing of cats.

 

 

During the past four months, they haven’t spent a night outside (cheers to being single!) but then,

 _Hey, where r u?_  Barry texts Cisco after he gets to the apartment and notices Cisco unusually hasn't arrived yet. Quickly, he gets a reply. 

_Hey man. I don’t think I’m coming back tonight. I hope so, at least._

Barry easily reads between the lines.  _Oooohhhh I see. See you tomorrow._

He feels a little bit… jealous? No, he doesn’t. He shouldn't. At least Cisco’s not taking the girl home, because if Barry doesn’t feel jealous yet he definitely would after seeing Cisco going closed-doors with a random girl.

 

 

Stuff happens sometimes, the unusual kind of stuff. Things that didn’t use to happen before –Before they lived together, of course. Not before Barry was sure he liked Cisco in a romantic way or anything like that. You’re just jumping to conclusions, people. That isn’t a  _thing_.

Like that time Cisco played video games on the couch…

He’s been tired of getting beaten by Barry who apparently can’t control the superspeed flowing throw his hands clicking buttons on the controls. Instead, from the other end of the couch, Barry just keeps him company while he surfs through his timeline on Twitter.

Barry suddenly straightens up from his sprawled position. “What, dude?” Cisco asks without parting his gaze from the flat screen.

“Uhm, I don’t know, I’m bored. Would you mind if I do your hair?”

“What?” He’s barely focused on Barry’s words but wait did he really just say  _that_?

“Like, braiding it or something.” He used to do Iris’ hair when they were little and it was always fun. Just because Cisco’s hair is shorter doesn’t mean it won’t be. And the fact that they’re both guys doesn’t have to make things awkward. Barry sighs internally at Cisco’s silence and at his own dumb attempts to stop being nervous.

Cisco won’t even turn around to see if he’s serious. Alright, maybe just with the corner of his eye, because he really can’t afford to fail on this level of Dragon's Dogma already.

He shrugs. “If this isn't some kind of prank, then whatever, dude. If it helps you sleep at night.” He finally pauses the game, hoping it won't be too hard not dying when he resets it. He turns to Barry.

“Right, so…” Barry moves next to him and puts a hand on his back. “Move.”

“Hm?”

“I gotta be behind you, move,” Barry repeats. That’s something completely logical to say.

Cisco thinks about the reasons why this isn’t weird. First, Barry is naturally weird and he is, too, so they’re happily weird together. Second, Barry was raised with a girl and maybe this kind of thing is more natural than he thought. 

He shifts away and gives Barry some room on the couch. Barry’s legs are beside his thighs and they’re pressed together behind one another as if they were on an imaginary bike.

Barry moves to hold Cisco’s locks of hair and Cisco is fucking starting to sweat because really, what the hell is even going on here?

“Yeah, so this isn’t gonna work,” Barry states. “This is too close up to your hair.” They both scoff.

Barry considers moving Cisco to the floor but alright he’s playing and he knows he hates the floor so instead he moves to the back of the couch behind him.

“C’mon,” he says. Cisco leans on his back and his head fits in between Barry’s legs.  _Definitely not an appropriate thought._ Hands land on Cisco's hair and start combing it and alright he should  _really_  reset the game to distract himself a little from everything happening in order to avoid being that self-conscious about the fact that  _Barry’s hands are_ _in_ _his hair, caressing it._ Internalizing it just makes it weirder, ugh.

Barry is in awe, the hair in his hands is so soft and nice and dark and he’s having trouble focusing on actually doing something besides stroking it awkwardly before Cisco notices (Which shouldn’t happen –and he internally prays it doesn’t– since Cisco already reset Dragon's Dogma and he always puts his complete attention in any video game he plays). Barry untangles the hair lazily and starts braiding it, distracting himself as well with Cisco’s progress on the game.

Soon, Cisco’s character dies.

* * *

 

“Hey, you’re still up?” Cisco asks on his way to the bathroom, noticing that Barry’s still awake.

“Yeah, yeah –I can’t sleep.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, really.” The tone in his voice brightens up clearly, but he says it like it isn’t a big deal. “I thought I was cold but I already went for more blankets. Maybe I just didn’t burn enough calories today and I’m not sleepy. Don’t worry.”

Cisco nods silently in his own tiredness. He enters the bathroom and exits it shortly after. On his way back to his room, he turns again to Barry’s bedroom. He hesitates, seeing Barry with his back to the door. Barry probably figures he’s back in his bed by now.

The next thing Barry knows is Cisco is walking into his room, barefoot, getting into his bed.

“What are you doing?” He’s not upset, not  _at all_ , just… surprised.

“Just… it always helped me when I was younger. I had this roommate in college… we’d sneak into each other’s bed if we couldn’t sleep.”

“Did it work?”

“Yeah.” Then, he quickly adds, “If this is weird I can leave .”

Barry smiles. “Nah, stay. This is cool.”

 

Cisco tries hard not to panic when he wakes up with an arm around Barry’s chest, pressing him closer to his body. He hadn’t even noticed he’d done that.

One of his legs is also between Barry’s, who’s snoring quietly in his sleep. Cisco slips off Barry's body cautiously and there’s a peace of mind in his heart (which shouldn't sound as contradictory as it does), he can’t really bring himself to explain it.

 

* * *

“You know, it was nice to braid your hair the other day. It relaxed me,” Barry tells Cisco while they watch Cake Boss in Cisco’s bedroom.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Can I?”

“Sure.”

Barry gets his hands on Cisco’s hair and if it wasn’t too suspicious he’d point out that it’s getting longer and also straighter. He likes to think Cisco is letting it grow so he has more to braid, but those are just his ridiculous thoughts giving him useless hopes.

Cisco is more relaxed this time. After the sleeping-with-Barry incident, he’s allowed himself to enjoy instead of rejecting this warm feeling in his chest that appears because of anything related to Barry.

(Like wearing his STAR Labs sweater. Which sometimes still smells like his cologne. Or wearing the pajama shirt they shared, eating the food the other prepared or watching a rom-com together on the couch eating dinner).

On the commercial breaks, Cisco rests his head on Barry’s shoulders. If the feeling is returned, this won’t turn out wrong. If it’s not, meh, he’ll figure out something to excuse himself out of this.

“Dude, I was almost done, y’know,” Barry teases.

Cisco just stays there, looking up at Barry’s face and several moles. Barry eventually tries to look down at him too and as he does that he becomes self-aware that he’s still holding Cisco’s hair and lets go of it.

Cisco sits up, leaning on his arm. He sighs heavily, but not because he’s sad or something similar; there’s just this feeling of optimism and confidence so big on his chest, damn. Looking at Barry’s face so close to his and yet remaining so still, he decides to finally kiss him. Barry’s evidently caught off guard but after a second he kisses back.

It’s short, but meaningful and sweet.

“I really meant to keep this platonic, dude," Cisco says. "You just wouldn’t let me.” His voice is low and sincere.

“Me too.” Cisco feels relieved at the words. “But… should we keep this going?” Barry’s so scared things might get awkward or simply turn out  _off_. The fact that they live together now just adds pressure to the subject.

Cisco bites his lip. It’d be nice to have more of Barry… Even when both of them are having the longest train of second thoughts at the moment.

“Yeah,” he finally answers with ease, listening to his heart. “I don’t know if you’ve heard the news, Barry, but we’re a pretty good match.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was so fun to write. 
> 
> BTW I’m actually worried about the fact that we haven’t seen Cisco wearing any STAR Labs merch. And yeah the thing about his hair is completely canon because in the new season’s backstage footage it looks like that <3 and I’m just… dead.
> 
> Visit my cool tumblr @marian-elisa (new url! I used to be reid-me-like-a-book) and feel free to send me prompts! (For the first time ever I'm officially taking them :D)
> 
> If you enjoyed this and maybe other of my fanfics, please visit my [Patreon account](https://www.patreon.com/venezuelanwriter/), in case you would like to help me pay for my college studies (literally, my semesters cost around $100) and also get some awesome, exclusive benefits!


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